Getting a Second Chance
by Temsik
Summary: Every time you mess up in a Nancy drew game... you simply use the second chance button. Then you make it so the mistake never occurs. Here... Nancy finds that a mistake does occur... and there's only on thing on this planet who can fix it. T for death theme.
1. Making a Mistake

Now although she's had many close calls, Nancy has taken pride in that fact that she's still alive. Well at least she did. The case had brought her to Chicago. There had been a strange Indian structure found outside the city, and now for some reason, the ghosts of the tribes chieftain was coming back and attacking anyone who went near the thing. She had actually learned about this through Savannah, whom she had met for the first time in a little cafe, where she was during most of the day. Other than that, she was in the hotel where they both had rooms.

But since when has a ghost ever stopped Nancy. She found a secret tunnel about a mile from the structure after completing a difficult series of puzzles. She pulled out her phone and attempted to call that police girl she had been introduced to back in the city… some chick named Lynne. Boy was she a spunk one. No answer. That was odd. Could she have been behind this whole thing? Savannah seemed to get kind of edgy around that black cat Lynne owned, but Savannah wouldn't say why.

Nevertheless, Nancy followed the tunnels for a long time, using that flashlight she picked up from Lynnes office after helping her file her paperwork. Why did people always make her do menial jobs in exchange for simple items? She found her way to the end of the tunnel, which appeared to be a dead end. Of course, it wasn't that simple, as a puzzle box inside the wall (which Nancy solved in a few minutes, using the clues left for her in a research journal), the wall swung open, and she found herself bellow the Indian structure.

The only thing there that she hadn't seen from the outside was another door. Luck seemed to be with her today, it was unlocked. That was a first. This led down another corridor, however this one seemed to be in much better condition. Understandable as the other hadn't been used in some 300 odd years. She found the end of the tunnel… and another door. This one was locked. "Of course it is…" Nancy muttered. She then remembered she had found a strange key before her last run in with the ghost. Maybe this was it.

It worked. She walked into the room, and was amazed with what she saw. A full on excavation… but it looked like… one person had been doing all the work. She was about to turn around to leave, when she heard a quick motion of steps, and the sound of something being picked up. She turned around. She had hoped this would bring her face to face with the culprit. No… not at all… this brought her face to face with a hammer coming down on her. It all went black.


	2. Ghosts

She found herself waking up… but why couldn't she move? She looked around. Everything was dark. What was going on? 'Did… did I die?' Nancy asked herself. She wasn't really expecting an answer. But an answer she got.

"Yes… I'm sorry to say… but… you are." A voice said. All of a sudden, Nancy's world flashed. She found herself in a void, with a swirling red vortex in the background.

"Wh-what on earth is this… where are you… how did you read my mind?"

"Ah… ever the detective Ms. Drew. Always asking questions. Although… I think I can relate." The voice said, before her eyes… a small black cat… Lynnes small black cat… walked up to her. It had to be that cat… it had the same red bandanna and everything. The voice seemed to be coming from it.

"A cat? A cat killed me?" Nancy said with a gaping mouth. If she had to die… why couldn't it be more dignified… like dying inside a sealed tomb… twice.

"Oh no… I didn't kill you. I arrived shortly after your death. Lynne got worried for you, so she sent me over the phone lines to your cell phone. I got your number the first time you walked into her office." The cat explained.

"Phone lines? I didn't know cats could travel by phone."

"Normal cats can't. Ghost cats… that's a different story."

"A ghost… you're kidding."

"No… I'm most certainly a ghost. The name is Sissel."

"I remember the name… but ghosts aren't real."

"Oh but they are… very real. I can do amazing things Ms. Drew. Did you know I've been a kitten for 10 long years?" Sissel asked.

Nancy bent down on one knee to get a closer look at him. "I think Lynne mentioned something about you not getting bigger. But I figured you just had some weird growth defect." Nancy said as the cat walked up to her legs and started brushing up against her like little kittens often do.

"No… it's because of my powers. My powers of the dead."

"Powers of the dead? Now I know you're pulling my leg."

"Oh no Ms. Drew, I am completely serious. Allow me to show you." The cat said walking a few ghostly feet away from her. In front of Nancy, a giant red clock appeared. Sissel spoke again.

"I noticed you had a knack for interacting with things. Give this one a try."

Sissel was right by that… nancy did a curiosity that usually brought her to interact with many mysterious contraptions… this one… was unlike any other she'd ever seen. She carefully placed her hand on the long minute hand of the clock, and gave it a slight budge forward. Nothing, it just fell back to where it was before.

"I… think I did that wrong… maybe…" She pushed the hand the other way. The clock roared to life, gears twisting and turning as a blinding light flashed from behind her. When it cleared… she could hardly believe her eyes.


	3. Four Minutes To Solve A Mystery

**Authors Note: Alrighty. I'm sorry I didn't get this done sooner. I had this chapter all written out, then my computer caught a virus and I had to reset everything, so I lost it. At that point, I didn't really feel like re-writing it, but now that I have the chance, I managed to rewrite the chapter... and even make it a little better. So anyways... enjoy.**

* * *

Nancy was in the room she had apparently died in. It was as if nothing had happened.

"Did that just happen? I must be imagining things." Nancy said, assuming it all to be a weird trick of the mind… a really weird trick of the mind.

"I apologize Ms. Drew. I'm afraid you aren't imagining things." A voice said. It was sissels. The world around her flashed again. Everything was red, except for a bunch of objects around the world, which had bizarre blue shades, and a bright white dot in the middle of each of them. Before her stood Sissel, shrouded in a blue flame, and surrounded by the blue outline of… what looked like the shape of her body.

"Wh-what is this?" She stammered. The happenings at Thornton hall made more sense than this!

"Welcome to the ghost world Ms. Drew. Or should I be precise: The Ghost World of Four Minutes Before Death." Sissel said, tilting his head.

"Four Minutes Before Death?" Nancy said, shocked.

"Yes… I have transported us back in time. To four minutes before your death. This didn't calm nancy any more.

"So I'm really-" she said gulping. "dead?"

"As a doornail. But I'm here to fix all that." Sissel smiled in an assuring voice.

"You can help?" She asked.

"Indeed I can. My ghostly powers can freeze the time we are in as you can see. We have four minutes to stop your death, so we have to use them wisely." He said.

Nancy began thinking to herself. 'This is insane. I'm talking with a time traveling cat. There's no way this is actually happening. I must be dreaming. I have to lay off the Koko-kringle bars.'

"I swear to you, you aren't dreaming." The cat said, leaping up onto a ladder., and then to a shovel. The world flashed again, the normal colors of the world returning. Nancy looked down for the first time. She could see through her hands. I mean, they were there, but they were translucent!

"Whoa…" She whispered.

"It gets much more interesting." Sissels voice said (she couldn't see him with the world like this), giving the shovel a rock, knocking it over. This puzzled nancy. "You can do that?" She asked

"Yes… I can manipulate inanimate objects. I can't manipulate everything, and my range of possession is sort of limited. Sometimes I have to get a little closer before possessing an object. Like this." He said, freezing the world, jumping to a can, unfreezing the world, then rolling the can towards a table leaned against a wall.

"Amazing." Nancy said. "Can I do that?" She asked. She really wanted to help out here.

"Sorry nancy… only certain people can do what I do… and I doubt you would want the powers I have. I've only known one other human ghost with my powers... and he did not enjoy it."

Actually… now that she thought about it, she had seen a few objects that had seemed to change positions when she left Lynnes office. That must have been Sissel going to possess her phone.

By this point, sissel had jumped up to a radio on the table, to a small power junction on the wall. He then jumped to the lights on the ceiling with ease. He was making his way to some sort of door. But it had been hidden by all the dust and muck. If it hadn't been color coded blue, she would have missed it. She has the first time she entered. Then something weird happened. He jumped through the door. Like… he jumped out of sight.

"Whoa." Nancy said, as time began moving again. Sissel then responded. "Nancy… when I bring you back to life, you need to check this out. There are all sorts of gold things up here. I don't think I can move this door considering how encrusted it is. But if I get something heavy on it… maybe I can… wait. I think I have an idea. Hold on down there." His voice came.

Nancy realized what Sissel was talking about as she wandered the room. The odanatine treasure room! Just as Savannah said! She continued looking around, the world making occasional flickers to red as Sissel was apparently doing his work upstairs. Occasionally she heard a thump, roll or other odd sound. This was a true bona-fide haunting, nothing like that mansion she had investigated a few years before.

She walked to another table with archeological gear. There were some newspaper clippings… some books… and a journal. It was open, so nancy peered down to take a look. There was some drabble about the digging proceedings. And then she recognized the writing style, just as she hit the name at the bottom.

"Phillip!" She said out loud. At that, the door creaked, and another nancy walked through the door. A living nancy. She really was in the past. Following behind her was Phillip, that sleazy pawn shop owner. He picked up a hammer from the ground and rushed for nancy, coming within two feet of bringing the hammer over his head. Then it happened. The door above him creaked, as it fell open and a golden ball fell from the room above, knocking Phillip over the head. He groaned, and suck to the ground, knocked out. The Nancy of Four Minutes ago whirled around, and gasped "Phillip!"

Deja Vu.

The world around her flashed again, and she was facing Sissel in the ghost world, swirling vortex and all.

"And there you have it Ms. Drew. You have your life back." Sissel said scratching behind his ear nonchalantly.

Nancy didn't know what to say. This was all so weird, and she didn't understand completely.

"I see you're confused. That's understandable. When you get back to the present, tell Lynne that Sissel helped you out, and she'll know what you mean. Trust me when I say that if you ever need a ghostly assist. I'm only a phone line away."

Nancy was silent. She honestly didn't believe any of this. None of this ghost stuff. She felt this was all a dream. But it was so odd. Like something Bess would come up with. But… just in case this was real, she didn't want to seem ungrateful. So she responded with a simple "Thank you."

"You are welcome Ms. Drew." He said, the clock appearing. It sprang to life on it's own, and Nancy Drew was sucked back into the white light of her new present.

She remembered everything. Her death, her odd stroke of luck that would have ended in her death, the police coming and arresting Phillip, Lynne questioning her, and then Sissel, speaking with her in that weird void in her new present. He explained everything about his powers. Where they came from, and how he had rewritten 10 years of history. Sissel had made her swear to keep quiet about his powers of the dead. It was all weird… but now nancy believed. For the first time, Nancy had a belief that there was something else out there. She believed in ghosts.

Later that night… on the bus-ride to the airport… she began to write her letter home.

* * *

**And that's it! I will be doing a epilogue chapter to this very soon... and there will be a little treat for all of you in it.**

**Anyways, I plan on working on my other stories very soon, and there will be a couple of new ones in the future (both crossovers).**


	4. Epilogue

**Dear Ned, **

**By the time Phillip woke up from getting hit over**

**the head like that, the police had already arrived.**

**Boy was I lucky. **

**Turns out he had had yet to find the treasure **

**in the ceiling, and upon being told, burst into **

**tears. **

**Savannah is still kind of freaked out about **

**that cat that Lynne has, but she assures her **

**it's just her imagination. **

**Jameson discovered that the treasure found **

**initially belonged to one of his Indian ancestors.**

**With the money, he plans on opening a new **

**exhibit in the museum all about the treasure... **

**He even said a certain lady might be mentioned**

**in the exhibit! **

** But ya know what... this case has given me a new**

** perspective on things. I know it was just luck that**

** door cracked open, causing that ball to knock Phillip**

** over the head. But honestly... it felt like there was **

** someone there with me. I don't know. Maybe It's**

** nothing. See you back in River Heights! **

**Love,**

** Nancy**

* * *

**TRIVIA QUESTION: What color flashlight did Lynne give you first?**

**Blue Purple**

**Orange Red**

**Answer: Red.**

* * *

**When a famous spiritualist from the Los Angeles is found murdered, its up to me to solve the case.**

**I'm going to be staying with one of my dad's old law school buddies while I'm there. He's apparently really good. **

**He apparently has connections with the village the spiritualist is from.**

**Though I don't think I'll be running into any real spirits... I hope I can catch a killer before he can strike again.**

**Join me, on my next case:**

**Nancy Drew: The Turnabout of Secrets**


End file.
